The mysterious appearance of a new roundabout and exit on a state highway ramp in Atlanta’s bustling Midtown sparked concern early last year from neighbors who wondered why Georgia transportation officials would build such a thing without public input. The truth turned out to be much stranger.

Despite remaking public roadways, the roundabout on the Buford Spring Connector at Peachtree Street was privately funded and built by Dewberry Capital Corporation, one of the area’s most controversial developers, to serve its famously slow-paced and largely undisclosed plan for redeveloping area properties into something called “Uptown.” The project used a Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) private permit process that required no public meetings – and many major stakeholders were indeed in the dark until construction began and concerns were voiced. 

“The fact that we had no knowledge of the plan until we saw the bulldozers is most upsetting,” said Paul Dimmick, president of the Ansley Park Civic Association (APCA), one of the local organizations that raised concerns. “Because there was no public vetting of the project, the impact of changing traffic patterns on secondary roads was given only a cursory review. Our primary concern is that the result will pour more congestion onto our residential streets, which are not designed to handle through traffic.”

Behind-the-scenes political battles appear to have ensued, including state legislators filing a bill that would require public input into such projects in the future. GDOT has yet to approve the nearly complete roundabout, with some residents saying they understand the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) and District 6 Atlanta City Councilmember Alex Wan have concerns about how the new ramp ties into a public street called Inwood Circle.

Dewberry did not respond to SaportaReport questions emailed to company founder and CEO John Dewberry and followed up in a voicemail…